Out for blood, money, or camera time?

Welcome back to “The Challenge: Vendettas!” Last week I was hopeful in thinking we could only go up from the halfway point. Unfortunately, I was too optimistic in my thinking, because week eight’s episode? Total snooze fest. I have never been so disappointed yet indifferent to results at the same time. The people in this season of “The Challenge” are not out for blood, they are out for camera time.

Lights, camera, action! The elimination rounds are still going. Starting off with last week’s review, Veronica’s finger is injured and she is no longer able to compete and is therefore eliminated. With her departure, it may be safe to say that her relationship with Aneesa just got a little more complicated. Next challenger is Kam, going against Tori, one of the ‘Mercenaries of Mayhem’; as Tori described the heavy hitters participating in this elimination with nothing to win but everything to lose. Their battle was a bit lackluster; Kam won 2-1. What was surprising was actually Leroy’s encouragement and direction that he provided to Kam. In the green room he revealed that they have an “unspoken alliance” and that she’s his number one in the game. This was particularly surprising as Kam and Leroy have not spoken at all (at least not on camera)! Kam has not acknowledged any deal or preference towards Leroy. With his obvious allegiance to Johnny Bananas, most would assume they are each other’s number ones. Maybe the flirtmance that is between Bananas and Natalie is to explain for this “unspoken alliance” Leroy spoke of, because it is always good to have a backup plan.

Next in the elimination match up is Joss and Derrick. Derrick is a man of small stature, but he is extremely tough. He is not just one of “The Challenge” veterans, but a three time winner as well. Joss is the U.K rookie that won the very first challenge of the season and was the first to get money under his belt. However looking at them side by side, many people were expecting Joss to dominate this elimination. That was not the case. The men were very equal in the ring and had an intense, brutal time. After an hour or so T.J Lavin, the host, announced a sudden death. One point to win. A bloodied Derrick got the better of Joss, proving what kind of champion he really is, winning 1-0. In the rules of this elimination round, if the contestants stepped outside the ring, they would have to reset back to the middle. Joss thought Derrick left the ring but he did not, so Derrick took that chance to send Joss home.

With the eliminations over, three players are leaving the game and one remains to go back into the house. Shane, Veronica and Joss are all going home empty handed, any money won going to the winners’ pot. Kam, the sole survivor, has her choice of three grenades to use at the next challenge: Lube up, Endure and Flip out. So who’s left in the game? Right now there are nine female competitors and eight male competitors. For the women, there are Nicole Z, known for her love of peanut butter and women, originally cast for “Real World (RW): Skeletons,” Natalie from “Big Brother,” Marie from “RW: St. Thomas,” Kayleigh form UK’s “Ex on the Beach,” Kam from the latest season of “Are You The One?” (AYTO), Kailah from “RW: Go Big or Go Home,” Jemmye hailing from “RW: New Orleans,” Cara Maria who started on “The Challenge: Fresh Meat II” and Britni from AYTO season three. For the men we have Devin and Nelson who are also from “AYTO” season three, Brad from “RW: San Diego,” Johnny ‘Bananas’ from “RW: Key West,” Kyle from the U.K’s “Geordie Shore,” Zach (whom I am still unsure of who he has a vendetta against) coming from a later season of “RW: San Diego,” Leroy from “RW: Las Vegas” and finally Tony, whom was on the same season as Nicole in “RW: Skeletons.” Some of these people have known each other for years, whereas a few players are brand new.

Competitor wise, the men are running the show. Bananas has had the most wins this season but is tied for Troika possession with his ally, Tony at three each. At this point of the game, the only players without an wins or money are Kam and Leroy.

Speaking of Kam, she let the Grenade get to her head. Referring to herself as “Queen Kam,” she used her Grenade as power source, forcing people to kiss the ring and guarantee safety for not only herself, but her closest friends and roommates, Kailah and Marie. While Natalie is on board with this plan, Cara Maria is troubled. Kailah and Marie are her vendettas, and no matter what she says to Kam, she will remain their number one target.

Now to the challenge of the week! Things are getting ridiculous on the competition front, as this week the cast must travel from car to car suspended in mid air above a large body of water. The cars were suspended, the players were not. Kam, holder of the Grenade, chose to ‘Lube up’ Cara Maria to defer her chances of winning. So one wrong move and it’s goodbye birdie! Even with the absurd challenge being performed, it was still boring. A majority of the cast could not make it across and the highlight of the event was Leroy falling so hard that he had to go to the hospital for the remainder of the episode. It was a team-based challenge, so let us skip to the winners and the losers. Despite Cara Maria’s disadvantage, her team did win, allowing them to chose the Troika from amongst themselves. Cara’s team was herself, Bananas and Nelson. Nelson was the first to finish the challenge and Bananas and Natalie both got farther than Cara Marie did, so they did not choose her to be in the Troika. The losers? Kam’s team. Her Grenade may as well have blown up in her face, because it did her no favors whatsoever. On Kam’s team there was herself, Marie, Jemmye and Brad. With this being a girls’ elimination they had to decide who was going in…and to my surprise the group consensus was Marie. This made sense for Brad, they have had bad blood since #pizzagate, but Jemmye and Kam? They were her closest allies, and now Marie is feeling betrayed.

That is where episode eight of “The Challenge: Vendettas” ends! I have given up hope on a fulfilling episode for the time being, but Leroy has always been a favorite of mine, so I will be tuning in regardless, every Tuesday night at 9 p.m.

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